Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

March 05, 2018

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) have led more than 100 Republican representatives and senators in filing an amicus brief in the case of Leandra English v. Donald J. Trump and John M. Mulvaney. The brief supports the President's authority to designate an acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

President Donald Trump has appointed Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to be CFPB acting director, but CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English and Democratic Congress members have contended that she is the Bureau's lawful acting director under the Dodd-Frank Act.

English filed a complaint in November 2017 maintaining that she became the Bureau's acting director by operation of law when former CFPB director Richard Cordray's resignation took effect.

February 27, 2018

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) have sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, whom President Donald Trump has also appointed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director, urging him to provide clarity on the rationale for his recent actions they said benefit payday lenders. These senators were among those who first wrote to Mulvaney on January 31 questioning his actions to benefit the payday industry. The senators said they were "disappointed" by Mulvaney's response to the original letter, which they said did not explain his actions but "raised questions about our motivations for standing up for consumers." The senators sent the January 31 letter to Mulvaney again and called on him to answer all their questions by no later than March 9, 2018.

February 21, 2018

The Office of Inspector General for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board has issued a report presenting the independent audit of the Bureau's privacy program and its implementation that was performed by Cotton & Company LLP, an independent certified public accounting firm.

The report concluded that overall, the CFPB "has substantially developed, documented, and implemented a privacy program that addresses applicable federal privacy requirements and security risks related to collecting, processing, handling, storing, and disseminating sensitive privacy data." But the report said the program required improvement in the areas of: (1) identification and maintenance of a comprehensive inventory of personally identifiable information; and (2) physical controls over the CFPB's portable media.

Cotton made two recommendations designed to strengthen the CFPB's privacy and security program.

February 13, 2018

The White House has released its proposed budget for the 2019 fiscal year. Among other things, the budget proposes to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, limit the agency's mandatory funding, and provide discretionary appropriations to fund the Bureau beginning in 2020.

According to the Major Savings and Reforms document published with the budget, the Trump Administration stated that the proposed reforms would impose financial discipline, reduce wasteful spending, and ensure appropriate congressional oversight by subjecting the agency to discretionary appropriations starting in 2020. In addition, the proposed budget would cap transfers by the Federal Reserve Board to the CFPB during 2019 to $485 million and limit the CFPB's "broad" enforcement authority over federal consumer law.

The White House also issued its Analytical Perspectives, which contains analyses that are designed to highlight specified subject areas or provide other significant presentations of budget data that place the budget in perspective.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its fiscal year 2018-2022 strategic plan establishing its mission, strategic goals, and strategic objectives for those years. The plan is a revision of the draft released in October 2017. According to the Bureau's press release, the strategic plan draws directly from the Dodd-Frank Act and refocuses the CFPB's mission on regulating consumer financial products or services under existing federal consumer financial laws, enforcing those laws judiciously, and educating and empowering consumers to make better informed financial decisions.

CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney said that "we have committed to fulfill the Bureau's statutory responsibilities, but go no further." He added, "By hewing to the statute, this Strategic Plan provides the Bureau a ready roadmap, a touchstone with a fixed meaning that should serve as a bulwark against the misuse of our unparalleled powers."

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has released a statement in response to reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has decided to revise its mission and vision by "further deterring the agency from pursuing its mission of protecting consumers," according to a committee minority press release. The release said the Bureau is reportedly acting under orders from Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, whom President Donald Trump has also appointed CFPB acting director.

In his statement, Brown said, "Banks and payday lenders have enough lobbyists working on their behalf--the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must continue to be fighting for working families." Brown added that the Trump Administration should quickly nominate a permanent CFPB Director "who will have full bipartisan support in the Senate and will protect consumers instead of special interests." He said until then, Mulvaney "must take steps to ensure that consumer laws are enforced."

February 07, 2018

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has named Kirsten Sutton Mork chief of staff for the Bureau. Sutton Mork has been serving as staff director of the House Financial Services Committee under Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

Mulvaney said he had previously worked with Sutton Mork when he was on the Financial Services Committee "and can attest to her in-depth financial policy expertise, proven track record of developing and implementing strategic initiatives, and ability to manage a team." He added that she "brings with her more than a decade of invaluable experience that will advance the mission of the Bureau and make it more efficient, effective, and accountable."

According to the Congress members, "In the last month, the CFPB halted implementation of the agency's final rule preventing abusive payday lending (the 'Payday Rule'); announced its intention to initiate a rulemaking process that appears designed to weaken the Payday Rule; voluntarily dismissed a case against four payday lenders who had allegedly misled customers and charged interest rates approaching 1000%; and halted an investigation into a high-cost installment lender whose abusive business practices trapped its customers into years of debt."

The letter says these actions "benefit an industry that has close ties to Mr. Mulvaney and that has contributed more than $60,000 to his political campaigns." The Congress members asked for answers to a series of related questions.

January 25, 2018

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a Request for Information regarding its use of civil investigative demands as the first step in Acting Director Mick Mulvaney's plan to gather evidence on how well the Bureau is doing its job. The RFI poses 11 specific questions that the notice says will help the CFPB assess its existing processes for originating, drafting, and enforcing CIDs. Comments on the RFI must be received by March 27, 2018.

The Dodd-Frank Act gives the Bureau the authority to issue CIDs to anyone--companies or individuals--who is believed to have information on a violation of any law under the Bureau's authority. The CFPB's use of that authority has been the subject of court challenges as companies have contested the breadth of the information demanded, the identification of the law that might have been violated, and the relevance of the information to that law.

January 24, 2018

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau blog post describes Bureau resources to help consumers shop for auto loans, student loans, and home loans. According to the post, the Bureau's "Know Before You Owe" tools and information can help make the loan process easier to understand.

The author advises consumers to check their credit scores before seeking a loan and to shop around for the best loan offer. The post has sections on shopping for an auto loan, paying for college, and mortgages and home buying that describe and provide links to CFPB resources.